Sept. 21 (UPI) — A jury found Jason Eaton guilty on three counts of attempted murder on Monday for the 2023 shooting of three Palestinian American college students in Burlington, Vt.
The jury deliberated for about 2 hours before reaching its verdict. The victims, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdal Hamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, survived the shooting.
Eaton sought an insanity defense but his bid was rejected by the jury. He was arrested the day after the Nov. 25, 2023, shooting while federal agents were searching his apartment complex.
“Jason Eaton never disputed that he was the shooter,” Elizabeth Price, Awartani’s mother, told reporters after the verdict came down. “During the trial, we had to listen to him use hateful words to describe our sons over and over again. They were not the words of a man confused about who he shot or why.”
Eaton was represented by public defenders in the six-day trial.
The survivors of the shooting all testified during the first day of the trial. They said they were approached by Eaton, who drew a pistol and opened fire without speaking to them.
Bullet casings that matched ammunition that Eaton possessed in his apartment were submitted into evidence. A Ruger pistol that was also in Eaton’s apartment was believed to be the weapon used in the shooting, a firearms expert testified.
Eaton’s attorneys argued that he was legally insane at the time of the shooting as he reported receiving messages from the CIA while listening to Vermont Public radio. He claims he was given orders to commit the attack on the night that it happened.
“I was either talking to my ancestors and the divine consult or talking to an intelligence agency using an incredible AI that could come through my FM radio, through my Bluetooth headset, through my phone — or I’ve had this incredible psychotic break,” Eaton said in an interview recorded days after the shooting.
Source: U.S. News
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